You hear that word, and perhaps you think of children in Africa... or maybe refugees in some faraway land. Not here. Not in Tucson. Not a full-grown man, standing in your own doorway.

But that’s what Steven was: malnourished.

And he had taken a long, torturous road to malnutrition — growing up in a world of alcohol and drugs, with two abusive stepfathers, never knowing his birth father. With no spiritual guidance whatsoever. “All I knew about God came from the Pledge of Allegiance at school,” he says.

Steven functioned almost like a father to his three brothers and his sister — because his parents were so often drunk, or high, or fighting... or in jail. His home life was so awful, he worked extra hard in high school just to graduate a year early and get out on his own. He fled to beautiful Tucson. Here, he built a good life. He enjoyed a good job in the mining business, with a good salary.​​But one day, Steven’s little brother overdosed, on their mother’s front porch, and died. It was his younger brother’s 24th birthday. Steven went into a tailspin. “He was my best friend,” Steven recalls. “I took care of him when he was growing up, so he was a little bit like a son too.”

On that day of tragedy, Steven began drinking. He drank absolutely every day, for 2,191 days in a row.

In the middle of it all, Steven’s mom overdosed on heroin, and died on her living room floor. “That sealed my fate,” Steven says today. “I had kids, a vehicle, a good job and a home, but I just shut down. I walked away from it all, from everyone.” Then he lived in drain tunnels. “The pain I had been carrying around all my life hit a point where I didn’t want to be alive anymore. I didn’t care... Everyone I loved was dying, and I didn’t want to go through that anymore.”

​Homeless, wandering the streets, Steven lurked behind restaurants near closing time, then dug through the trash, hoping to find something edible. He staggered from month to month, gradually wasting away. But it was hunger that finally saved his life.

One morning he awoke famished, and began walking down 29th Street looking for something to eat. He had never heard of Gospel Rescue Mission, but he saw people coming in and out carrying clothes. Maybe a place that offered clothing would offer food as well?

“I was ashamed. I had been in the same clothes, with no shower or anything.” He waited until the crowds cleared, then nervously went in. A woman greeted him. “I asked her if I could have some food. She said, ‘Yes! I can get you a box full. Do you have an address to take it to?’ I told her no, but that I was so hungry I could eat a whole box full right then and there!”​

​We gave him a warm bed, a place to shower and shave — and yes, food. When Steven arrived, he weighed 139 pounds — over 30 pounds underweight.“I’ve gained 34 pounds since then!” Steven says with a huge smile. “But the best feeding you get here is the spiritual feeding.”

He began attending our chapel services. A sermon on Psalm 34 gave him a stunning new view of God. “When you’re broken down, He can really begin to work on you,” Steven says. “I felt like that is exactly what He was doing to me. I knew I needed to get my life back together.”​​

Knowing firsthand the pains of hunger, Steven now helps feed others here at the Mission.

Steven committed his life to Christ. He stopped drinking and - after a 22-year habit - stopped smoking. He was baptized on April 6th. “My life got so much better!” he says. “I have a sense of joy, and the anger and hurt are gone. I always wanted a father, and in the Lord I found one who is always there for me, and that I can count on.”

The generous support of our donors and volunteers helped save Steven’s life. But more men, women, and children are still hungry today, and "There's something you can do!" Please donate today and help save another person like Steven. Thank you in advance and God bless you!

In one horrible flash — one terrible moment of realization — Tamara suddenly knew: ​Her addiction was out of control.While it was true that she had been an addict for most of her life, Tamara was what you would call “functioning.” She managed to hold down a job, care for her nephew, the son of her incarcerated brother – she even attended church. She was one of the few who could keep her cravings in check, all the while covering everything up.

But then, when she was 33, a few of her girlfriends introduced her to a new “friend:” Meth.

Tamara entered a whole new world. She knew this drug would wreck her life. To this day, she remembers whispering a prayer, with the meth-pipe in her hand: “God, you have to come and do something, because I like this.”

Nine years later, you wouldn’t have recognized her: She was broken down. She’d been fired ­– again. She’d sold off all her possessions just to buy meth and stay high. She was homeless and utterly addicted. The word she used to describe herself: “worthless.”

For a time, she survived by driving prostitutes to and from their appointments. “I was homeless, broken-hearted, broken down,” Tamara says. Seemingly beyond hope – Tamara sometimes slept in her mother’s car. Some nights an acquaintance would let her sleep on their couch.

Only God can help me, she thought, because I’ve been so ugly.

“I gave up,” she recalls.

But God didn’t.

She remembered, that since she was little, her parents took her to church and taught her about God. Now, scraping the very bottom of life’s barrel, Tamara reached up to God one more time. On this desperate day, she knew that if God didn’t answer her prayer, the drugs were going to kill her.

“I don’t want to die like this,” she prayed. “I don’t want to be smoking a bowl when you sound that trumpet. I want to be free.”

And God did answer her prayer — with three simple words: “Gospel Rescue Mission.”

She had actually called us before, more than once, looking for a place to sleep. But every time, our women’s shelter facilities were at full capacity. “No room at the inn.” Then one day, Tamara somehow worked up enough faith to give it one more try.

“Lord, if it’s easy to get in, I’ll know it’s you speaking to me,” Tamara prayed. “If it’s hard, I don’t know what I’m going to do. But you said you’d never leave me or forsake me, so I’m going to call.”

“Can you come in Wednesday?” Stephanie asked (a graduate of the women’s recovery program) Tamara was so astonished, she had to ask the woman to repeat herself! On Wednesday, Tamara got another shock: She learned about our addiction recovery program that she had never known about. “God, this is you!” she exclaimed. “This is all you!”

Today, nearly a year later, Tamara has a new relationship with her mom. (They have a lovely routine: Tamara visits her on Sundays, cooks dinner for her, and spends time with her. Her mom often tells her how proud she is of her!)​

“God is changing me on the inside,” Tamara says. She sees it in the other women in the program, too. “We’re healing,” she says. “Having faith-based counseling, getting the tools to recover our lives from alcohol and substance abuse, plus being healed spiritually, it makes all the difference in the world... I’ve seen miracles.”

“It’s a blessing to be here,” Tamara says. “It’s a ministry that is truly inspired by the spirit of God working through humanity.”

Tamara plans to go back to school and earn a degree in counseling. Her goal is to specialize in behavioral health and help children in the foster care system. ​​​

Stephanie (right), a graduate of our recovery program, answered Tamara’s call. Today she’s another example of how your support continues to change lives.

Today you can help change the lives of others like Tamara. When you donate, not only is your gift tax-deductible, it also helps us minister to people in desperate need of a new chance at life. Thank you in advance and God bless you!

We can imagine how you’d describe Bill, if you had known him back then: “A star.”

He was a business owner. Popular. Successful.

And a true patriot: he served in the U.S. Army National Guard for years.

But then came trouble. Even though he could find success, he couldn’t seem to hold onto it. Whatever enterprise he pursued, it would always go great at first, but then he would somehow ruin everything...​

Bill couldn’t figure out why he was chronically self-destructing. In frustration, he started drinking. Project after project collapsed. His résumé — once honorable — degenerated into an embarrassment. His reputation got so bad, he couldn’t find corporate work anywhere. He ended up turning to the only employment he could find: working as a day laborer.

Yet at 57, he couldn’t keep up with the younger guys. He needed more energy. Power bars didn’t cut it. Finally, Bill made a deadly mistake: he started ingesting meth. He was addicted in a flash — overwhelmingly addicted. It wasn’t long before he was such a mess, he couldn’t work at all... and soon he was evicted from his apartment.

It was the end.

“If this is all there is,” he said to himself, “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

But by God’s grace, Bill didn’t take his own life. Some small spark of hope flickered to life in his heart and he called out to a God he hardly even knew:

“I can’t do this anymore, I’m too old,” he cried. “I need help.”​

God in His mercy led Bill to Gospel Rescue Mission. And thanks to the generous support of caring friends like you, we were here for him. We welcomed him, gave him a place to sleep, clothes and meals — and we introduced him to the love of Jesus, the only power that could really change his life.

Bill isn’t the last one who will need us, though. Another desperate, downtrodden, downhearted soul will show up on our doorstep tomorrow.

Bill’s story is just one great example of how a life can change, even when things seem hopeless. He entered our recovery program and enrolled in our “Genesis” discipleship program. In the days that followed, he was amazed to finally discover what started his downhill slide in the first place: he witnessed a traumatic event involving his family that he had to keep a secret. This resulted in him living with fear and anxiety and, at times, physical abuse because of what he had witnessed.

Bill had grown up as a prisoner of fear. His instinctive response was to push himself to succeed in business and find his identity there. So when success eluded him, Bill self-destructed.

This breakthrough insight set him on the road to a whole new life.

Here at the Mission, Bill discovered that God never intended him to find his identity in status as a business owner, or in financial success. God designed him to find his identity in Jesus Christ, as a reflection of God’s love.​

​“I am not the same person I was when I came in here,” Bill says with a tremendous smile. “The core classes have helped me surrender my life to Christ — to truly live by what that means.”

Bill has graduated from our recovery program — and he’s training to become a recovery support specialist with the National Association of Mental Illness.

“It’s all God,” Bill says. “I couldn’t do any of this without Him.”

And God, in His grace, has chosen to work through you and me, allowing us to serve here as the hands and feet to His foundation of Love.

Please partner with us today to help us continue in this work, provide emergency shelter — and more — for someone like Bill, someone in dire need, by giving generously today. Thank you in advance! God bless you.

He’s an easy-going guy – always quick to lend a hand here at the Mission.

But it was a different story when we met. Back in 2016, Roberto was in the grips of an aggressive alcoholism that was slowly destroying his life.​

“At my worst I would go through 10-15 tall boys and a 30 pack of beer every day. I must have spent $700 or more on alcohol every month,” Roberto admits.

His addiction cost him his home, his job, even his relationship with his wife and daughter who, when we met him, he hadn’t spoken to in six years. It was only when he finally wore out his welcome sleeping on people’s couches, that he found himself at the doors of the Gospel Rescue Mission.

The plan was to sleep, shower, and sober up in hopes of finding work. But with his alcoholism still unresolved, there was little hope that Roberto’s plan would be successful – and God knew it. Soon after he arrived, changes in the fire safety codes reduced our men’s shelter capacity from 130 beds to just 55. Suddenly Roberto was one of over a hundred men that found themselves out on the streets with nowhere to go.

Jeff was once proud to wear the uniform of our nation. He launched his career as a service member with the Military Police. His career was cut short by cancer — when he was only 20 — but he fought back and won. Full of confidence, he plunged ahead — got married, made money, acquired possessions — and felt like he was totally in control. But he wasn’t.

“I’ve been selfish all my life,” Jeff says today, “thinking everything I had, the successes, the money — was all me. But the more I tried to control my life, the more it fell apart.”​

She was working so hard.... So dedicated to her kids.... Working 50+ hours a week, to provide for her family. Emotionally and physically, Sheri was a maxed-out mom.

But then her own mother was diagnosed with a grave illness; one that required serious care. Nobody else in the family was in a position to step up and Sheri couldn’t let her mother suffer alone. So she made the sacrifice and added “caregiver” to her list of responsibilities – but it was too much...

It’s not fair, but we all tend to do it....When we see someone missing teeth, we tend to “label” them... We somehow tend to think of them as unintelligent... unprofessional... even untrustworthy. No, it doesn’t really make sense, logically. But most of us do it.​That’s what happened to Jonathan. He was still just a young boy when he fell in with the wrong crowd. He started putting substances in his body. Soon he was a full-fledged addict. Year after year, he battled his addictions ... and lost.

Pam was recently recognized by Mr. Jim Click, founder of Linkages social services agency, as the top Employment Specialist in Tucson!

Pam was a successful businesswoman, completing 25 years of service to Alaska Airlines before becoming addicted to painkillers after a series of surgeries. She lost everything – her career, her home and had to reach out to her brother for help. He welcomed her in, but it didn’t last. When she was arrested for forging a prescription, her brother realized she needed more help than he could provide. In an act of tough love, he dropped Pam off at our women’s shelter.

“It was at Gospel Rescue Mission where I found the healing I needed,” says Pam. “I learned who I was in Christ and for the first time in my life I experienced unconditional love. It changed everything.”

The support of our donors, volunteers, and staff helped Pam find sobriety and salvation, but it didn’t end there... ​

If someone were to ask, "What’s the best thing about a traditional holiday meal?" At first, some might think, “The food.” But really, when you get right down to it, no matter what the menu is ... the best thing about it probably isn’t the food ... It’s the love.

It’s the people around the table, who love you. It’s the sharing. The chatter. The laughter. That “full feeling” — not just after a big meal... that feeling that life is good... it’s complete... it’s full of God’s blessings.

Some folks haven’t felt such a feeling in a long, long time... folks that maybe made some bad decisions along they way and ended up in a tight spot. That's what happened to Art, but things were going ok he thought. He was living with his daughter and her husband. Then, one night, there was a conflict...

Each year, the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness host an Awards of Excellence Luncheon in which they honor ten individuals from across Arizona in the achievements towards ending homelessness. It is a great honor to be nominated and chosen for one of these awards. This year, our 2013 GRM Men's Center Shelter Graduate who now works at Old Pueblo Community Services, Philip Pierce was given this honor. His award was presented by Wes Shepherd, also a GRM Men's Center Shelter Graduate and 2010 AZCEH Award Winner, who is now our Men's Shelter Supervisor.